In December 2015, I moved to Ethiopia to start the USAID-funded Lowland WASH activity. This much needed activity focused on improving access to drinking water and sanitation in the rural areas of east and south Ethiopia, where extreme poverty has been exacerbated by droughts. This activity devoted half of its large water construction budget to rehabilitating inoperative water systems. This means replacing existing pumps and generators that had failed, whether due to poor operations and maintenance or simply aging.